I was born dirt poor. Luckily dreams are free.
Thomas Fortenberry is an American author, editor, reviewer, and publisher. Founder of Mind Fire Press and the international literary arts journal Mindfire, he has judged many literary contests, including The Georgia Author of the Year Awards and The Robert Penn Warren Prize for Fiction. Among other awards, such as twice winning Best Novella of the Year and The League of Distinguished Horror Writers Challenge, he has also been nominated for the Pushcart Prize, and won the Azsacra International Poetry Award.
He has done editorial work for numerous magazines, anthologies, book companies, and journals over the years (including Pro Se Press, Maelstrom, The Southerner, Ragnarok, Phic-Shun, Morphesium, Soul Unmade, Mind Fire, The Istanbul Literature Review, and The Global Knowledge Series of Arts and Sciences [GKSAS]). He helped found several literary companies over the years, such as Mind Fire Press, GKSAS, Third Party Productions (film and TV), Silverline Comics, and Queen City Comic Books. He has also lectured and run literary workshops, reading and writing groups for public and private entities, including the Charlotte-Mecklenburg County Library System. He was included in the literary encyclopedia Who’s Who in New Pulp. (2020)
His award-winning writings have appeared internationally in almost every genre and style of fiction, nonfiction, poetry, comic books, plays, screenplays, and teleplays. Writings have appeared in English and translations in publications such as Amelia, Cicada, Maelstrom, Contemporary Southern Poets of 1997, Poetry Magazine, Writer’s Choice, Media Critics Magazine, Aristokratia, Fiction Network, Soul Unmade, Poetry Superhighway, Ariga, Eternity, Gravity, Uno, Lower Than the Angels, Wooden Head Review, Ectopia, Poetry Depth Quarterly, Lumi Virtuale, Storytellers, Left Bank Review, Prairie Poetry, Biblioteca di Babele, Painted Poetry, Main Street Rag, Independence Boulevard, Coast Business Journal, Midwest Book Review, Fait Accomplit, The European Legacy, Poets4Peace, RAWA, EnterText, The World Book of Healing, Erbacce, Haiku Hut, Symbiotic, Verse Libre Quarterly, Taj Mahal Review, Slate & Style, Ya’Sou, Dew-on-line, Saathee, IPM: Internet Poetry Magazine, The Internet Poetry Anthology, Lynx, Peshekee River, Babel Magazine, Reading Matrix, Listening to the Birth of Crystals, The Book of Remembrance, nth Position, FTL-2, Mickle Street Review, Poetrystory, Annetna Nepo, El Nuevo Malcriado, Consciousness, Literature, and the Arts, Tamarind, An Improbable Truth: The Paranormal Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, The MX Anthology of New Sherlock Holmes Stories, Vol. VII: Eliminate the Impossible, The MX Anthology of New Sherlock Holmes Stories, Vol. XII: Some Untold Cases, Sherlock Holmes: Adventures Beyond the Canon, Vol. II, Sherlock Holmes: Adventures in the Realms of Steampunk, The MX Anthology of New Sherlock Holmes Stories: 2019 Annual, The Art of Sherlock Holmes: USA, Sherlock Holmes Is Everywhere!, The New Adventures of Solar Pons, Mirrormaze (Dreampunk anthology), Once More Into the Breach (Atomic Gods and Monsters, Vol. 2), Tiger By the Tail (AGM, Vol. 3), and The Queen of Space (AGM, Vol. 4). He has contributed articles to numerous books (including The Encyclopedia of Popular Fiction and Protection of a Holy Rebellious Yes to Life, edited by Dr. Santosh Kumar), magazines, journals, and pedias (including Wikipedia), plus introductions to books such as Calamity’s Quilt (by Janet Buck), A River Transformed (Wang Wei’s Chinese Poetry Reenvisioned in Modern English, by Gary Blankenship), Face of the Screaming Werewolf (by Ken Gage), Life (by Alice Shapiro), The Outline of History (by H. G. Wells), and the anthology on Russian philosopher Azsacra Zarathustra, Azsacramerica: The Future of Rebellion and Rebellion of the Future.
See his Amazon author page here.
In the real world Thomas has a degree in history, with specialties in philosophy, creative writing, zoology, and anthropology. He has taught ancient civilizations, Latin language, and Classical Studies (i.e. Graeco-Roman culture, history, literature, and philosophy), as well as creative writing. I have also been a tutor on various subjects for several different organizations. Here is a sample listing from Superprof. I also help teach essay writing for college entrance and scholarships.
He is Senior Producer and co-host of a radio show. He is active with numerous social, political, educational, environmental, literary, historical, and scientific organizations and issues. Beyond hosting numerous forums and groups, he contributes to various non-profit organizations such as Open Solutions for Government and as a lecturer at the International House.
He served on the Board and as the Administrator of the AAC-NCDP, Mecklenburg County Commission Steele Creek Area Liaison, member of the Land Use Committee, Chair of Community Outreach and Chair of Community Watch for Yorkshire, on the Executive Board for the Yorkshire HOA, and as Vice President on the Executive Board of the NoDa School of Arts. Most fun of all, he coached soccer for the Charlotte-Mecklenburg County Police Activities League (his awesome team won the 2009 County Championship).
